Category: History Happy Hour

And what a way to bring it back, even if I do say so myself. Today we a celebrating the 1764 birth of a British Lord, with a drink inspired by our favourite filicidal maniac!

Charles Grey, born 13 March 1764 was the Second Earl Grey and the Prime Minister of Britain from 1830 to 1834. And yes, he is THE Earl Grey that gave the tea it’s name.

Earl Grey Tea, which is traditionally black tea flavoured with bergamot, is reputed to have been made for the Earl by a Chinese Mandarin to offset the taste of the dodgy water at the Earl’s ancestral home.

And today we are celebrating the Earl with my version of a drink named after Leland Palmer, which in turn is a twist on the Arnold Palmer. I know, it’s like going down a rabbit hole isn’t it?

For those of you not of a certain age, Leland Palmer is a character from the tv show Twin Peaks. He is the father of Laura Palmer and ****spoiler alert***** (if you can still have spoilers on something that is 25 years old) later revealed to have killed her whilst under the possession of an evil entity called Bob.

The Leland Palmer cocktail is the creation of Daniel Boelte who was inspired to make it after being hungover at his girlfriend’s house and watching an episode of Twin Peaks. The original Leland Palmer uses jasmine tea, whilst, in honour of the day, I used Earl Grey Tea – as well as being Charles Grey’s Birthday, it’s also my wedding anniversary. So I guess I can switch up my cocktails however I want.

So, did my twist on the Leland Palmer result in unleashing a Bob of cocktail? I am totally, utterly may be slightly biased but I think not. This was delightful!

The bergamot in the Earl Grey combined beautifully with the fresh citrus and the limoncello. The herby notes of the tea also works really well with the botanicals in the gin.

The bitterness in the grapefruit and the tea is balanced by the sweetness of the honey and the limoncello with the lemon adding some zing.

This is totally gorgeous. Everything balances beautifully and you can add as much or little soda as you like depending on your needs. We drank them quite long (ie with lots of soda) over a summer afternoon and it was perfection however I can also envisage drinking it with just a splash of soda in winter in colder months.

Happy Birthday Charles Grey, Happy wedding anniversary to me and the fussiest eater in the world, thank you Daniel Boelte for the original recipe and to Leland Palmer for inspiring you to make a drink.

Here’s the recipe!

Leland Palmer (My Way)

2016-03-11 23:06:41

A delightfully well balanced and refreshing cocktail made from gin, l[imoncello and Earl Grey Tea

Today we are celebrating with a dubious mocktail with a fabulous name – The Bobby Dazzler.

Australia Day celebrates the 1788 landing of the First Fleet into Port Jackson, New South Wales and the raising of the British flag on Australian soil.

The day is marked by celebrations both formal and informal across Australia, with many people enjoying the day off work with barbecues, at the beach and otherwise enjoying the lovely summer weather.

Over at chez Retro Food, we are celebrating with this:

If you had asked me as a six-year-old to design my perfect drink it would have been something very like the Bobby Dazzler. “I want coca cola with something pink in it and whipped cream and a strawberry and sprinkles….” Seriously, if the Bobby Dazzler came with some glitter and a unicorn, it would have been my six-year-old idea of heaven.

However, according to International Mixed Drinks by Ken Fin (1995) the Bobby Dazzler was created by Maxine Nash at the Bubbles – Wodonga Hotel where it was the runner-up in the Best Border Beverage Competition of 1991. International Mixed Drinks is silent on whether or not Maxine Nash was a six-year-old.

F.Scott who normally taste tests all the cocktails I make wasn’t having a bar of this. But like his namesake F.Scott is partial to a sip o’ the hard stuff.

So another tester had to be found. And how more appropriate than our friend the Tasmanian Devil?

He loved it. But then again, we found him later on gnawing on one of the popper bottles.

The Bobby Dazzler is not so much bad tasting as unremittingly, unrelentingly sweet. And just when you think you can have no more sweet, you get a mouthful of cream.

Unless you are a six-year-old girl or a Tasmanian Devil you probably will not want to celebrate Australia Day with a Bobby Dazzler! I still feel a bit ill after drinking it. I feel like I need to have a little lie down. Simultaneously, I am so wired on caffeine and sugar I feel like I may never sleep again.

Sprinkle with 100's and 1000's and garnish with a strawberry and the blueberries.

By Maxine Nash / Ken Fin

Retro Food For Modern Times http://www.retrofoodformoderntimes.com/

I am calling this a recipe fail not because there was anything wrong with the recipe, I think it worked out exactly as it should have. To me the recipe fails because there is no counterbalance to that cloying sweetness. I also did not like that big chunk of whipped cream which pretty much just made your mouth feel greasy. I think ice-cream may have been a better choice. What do I know though? It’s not like I ever came runner-up in the Best Border Beverage competition.

Today history lovers, we are celebrating the first airing of the TV show Happy Days, on 15 January 1974, with a lovely cocktail, called appropriately enough, Happy Days.

The show Happy Days, centred on Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, his family, their upstairs tenant, Arthur Fonzarelli ( aka The Fonz) the coolest dude in town and Richie’s uncool friends, Ralph Maplh and Potsie. It ran for ten years, ending in September 1984.

Happy Days was a stalwart of my childhood, it was one of my favorite after school shows and never seemed to be off the telly. Set in the 1950’s, and 60’s it, along with Gilligan’s island quite possibly influenced my love of the clothing of those decades!

The Happy Days Cocktail is a mix of equal parts peach schnapps, vodka, grapefruit juice and pineapple juice. And it’s delicious!!! The grapefruit juice makes it – I think grapefruit brings an almost florally citrus scent and taste. It’s bitterness also helps to tamp down the sweetness of the peach and pineapple to stop the Happy Days from being too cloying.

It also smells amazing! Like a summer fruit basket!!!

This is so good! I garnished with some pineapple and a maraschino cherry – because how could you not be happy with one of them in your drink! I also added a little twist of the grapefruit rind just to ramp up the citrussy bitterness a tad.

And the verdict:

On another note, this may be the last Happy History Hour for a while. As part of a new years reset I am giving up the booze for a month, maybe 6 weeks. I am trying to find some interesting mocktails for the duration but they are proving to be somewhat elusive. If anyone has any sources, please let me know! Alternatively, if you would like to guest post a Happy History Hour Cocktail, please get in touch!

Because today, December 17, not only do we have a super fruity and delicious cocktail to celebrate today’s event but also two yummy recipes courtesy of one of my (and hopefully your) favourite bloggers, Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. Jenny is also making the same trio of recipes so when you have finished here, please head over there to have a look.

But what, and how are we celebrating?

On The Beach – The Film

December 17, 1959 saw the première of the film On The Beach. And just look at this for a cast list – Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins. There’s galaxies that wish they were that star studded!!!! Oh and just for fun, Frank Sinatra came along too. Not to be in the film, Just to hang out with Ava. On the beach.

And that beach was in my home town of Melbourne! Or in a place called Frankston on the outskirts thereof. In fact, for many a year, there was a scurrilous rumour that Ms Gardner had made the snarky comment that Melbourne was “the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world.” Not true my friends, not true. Said quote was totally invented by a junior reporter from a Sydney newspaper, obviously miffed that we got Ava, Gregory, Fred, Tony (and Frank) and all they got was a bridge and an Opera House.

On The Beach, based on a novel by Nevil Shute (which I have not read but now really want to) is a post-apocalyptic romance in which Australia is the only country to survive a nuclear war. However it is only a matter of months before radiation clouds doom the survivors to the same fate as the rest of the world. Unless…Dah dah da dah….

This is a film worth seeking out. A stellar cast, some superlative acting, and an engrossing story line, which although somewhat dated has much to speak to us about our current situation. And, if you can watch the scene with Tony Perkins and Donna Andrews without welling up? You’re already a little dead inside.

On The Beach – The Drink

What more appropriate way to celebrate the release of On The Beach than with the classic cocktail Sex on The Beach! And it’s so good. Peach schnapps where have you been all my life?

This is fruit, fruit and more fruit – peach from the schnapps, cranberry, orange juice and pineapple juice all playing a role. With a hit of vodka to give it some backbone.

This is the best summer you have ever had, in a glass. And unlike its namesake you don’t have to worry about getting sand in your privates if you have one. And you can have two, maybe three in one night with lots of different people without anyone looking askance at you!

On The Beach – The Food

Jenny (this woman is a marvel!!!) sent me a host of recipes by the stars of On The Beach but there was one that stood out for me above all others.

Gregory Peck’s recipe for Happy Pappy Eggs. Oh my…..it’s not often that words fail me. But….first up how you could you not love something called Happy Pappy eggs and second…the recipe came from Gregory Peck. AKA Atticus Finch (pre Go Set a Watchman). And then I also chose a Gregory Peck recipe for ratatouille.

The Happy Pappy Eggs were scrambled eggs with some slow cooked onions. Simple and delicious!!! But oh man, that rataouille was amazing!!! I have no idea why I don’t make it more often. It went really well with the eggs. And together they would make a super brunch dish after a long night of Sex on The Beach (either way).

I also ate the rataouille for lunch for a few days with some cheese in a toasted turkish roll and OMG…it was a revelation! So good!

On The Beach – The Recipe

There were some rather frightening copyright restrictions on the Gregory Peck recipes so we decided not to print them. However, I’m sure if you asked Jenny very nicely she would send you a copy. For personal use only. Don’t let us find you in a dingy alley handing out illegal copies of the recipe of Happy Pappy Eggs!

There are also a myriad recipes and variations for the Sex On The Beach Cocktail. This is a fairly classic take on it.

Because today, December 12, we are heading over to Norway to celebrate the 1863 birth of the artist Edvard Munch. Munch is most famous for his painting The Scream, painted in 1893.

I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

– Edvard Munch

The Scream has achieved pop culture icon status appearing in The Simpsons, Doctor Who, inspiring the mask in The Scream films as well as appearing on countless t-shirts, mouse pads coffee mugs, anything you can name from the sublime in this divine dress by Deconstructess:

To the ridiculous!

if you are suffering from existential angst, The Scream Cocktail, may just be the cure. Because, as we all know:

You put the lime in the coconut and mix them both together,

You put the lime in the coconut and then you’ll feel better”

– Harry Nilsson

Deeee-licious! I feel better already!

I had a query recently about whether or not I would allow someone to guest post on here. The answer, is a big, yes, yes, yes and the History Happy Hour may be the perfect place to start!

Why not celebrate a historic event in your neck of the woods by writing a post? I can help to find you a cocktail, or you can provide your own, just let me know if you are interested.